


unravel

by grit



Series: Strength Tells Many Stories [2]
Category: Naruto
Genre: Alternate Universe, Angst and Tragedy, BAMF Haruno Sakura, Dark, Dead Dove: Do Not Eat, Dystopia, Gen, Growing Up, Haruno Sakura-centric, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Kirigakure | Hidden Mist Village, Mild Gore, Unreliable Narrator, almost literally too, bloodline purges
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-26
Updated: 2018-09-26
Packaged: 2019-07-18 00:02:16
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 722
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16106528
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/grit/pseuds/grit
Summary: Sakura will be a shinobi soon and they know to coat their bare skin in poison.





	unravel

**Author's Note:**

>   
> **Warnings** for mild gore, an unreliable narrator and heavily implied abuse of minors.  
> 

Sakura likes it well enough by the shore. With the tides it's ever-changing, and she thinks that's pretty, in a way. The other kids don't like it because of the mosquitoes but she's traded with the old woman who runs the pawn shop. She trusts in the woman's strength and she trusts that she's wise. She's been defending her business as the riots in the streets grow bloodier. Sakura will be a shinobi soon and they know to coat their bare skin in poison. 

 

The shore means solace. Wading through the mud makes her stronger, and it keeps the others away from her.

 

Three times a doctor came to visit. Every time the same result: Sakura has no bloodline. Her mama breathes a sigh of relief every time he leaves and her papa hugs her so long it becomes boring. Still, the others point at her. Pink hair. There must be something tucked away under her skin, something that makes her different.

 

Sakura wants to dye it black, but mama says it's bad for your hair. She doesn't understand: Her hair is always frizzy, it can't get much worse. Can she shave it off then? No, papa insists.

 

Her parents are, she decides, kind of dumb.

 

The shore knows what she needs. She catches a glimpse of red-rusted metal and steps closer to pull the kunai out of the sand. It's still sharp and she cuts her hair as short as she dares without nicking skin. The water is her mirror.

 

When she's satisfied, she twirls the kunai in her hand and looks for something to practice on. In school they always go for the fish, because they're small and there's a lot of them. But they're difficult to catch, so Sakura aims at a large seagull diving across the rocks. She calculates the speed of the movement and her throw and buries the kunai in its skull.

 

It drops dead instantly. Sakura preens. She didn't miss. The organs are undamaged. She makes her way to the corpse and carves out the kidneys, the liver and the heart. They're bigger than the salmons' but she sort of expected that. She marvels at the lung. She's never seen a pair up close before. Sakura wonders how big human lungs are, and if papa has a bigger one than mama or her. She explores inside the bird's body a bit, feels for the tissue and bones. 

 

Satisfied, Sakura samples the blood for her class project and leaves the gutted bird rotting in the sun. Other animals will be grateful for it.

 

_To Earth, Sea and Life._

 

The Kiri proverb is comforting in its own special way. She likes believing in the bigger circle of nature. Skilled shinobi are on top, razor-sharp pointy teeth bared. They're ferocious. Sakura adores them.

 

At home, mama scolds her for dis-dissecting an animal. When Sakura replies that it wasn't cruel, that it had had a good life, papa buries his head in the crook of mama's neck and shudders. She watches them helplessly. She doesn't want them to be upset.

 

She decides to be strong for them. 

 

Sakura brings her kunai to school, each and every day. She keeps her hair trimmed short and her pockets stocked with all kinds of weapons she finds. Kiri is a poor nation and the civil war is bloody, so she has to make do in order to protect her family.

 

She cuts through skin and guts, fish turning into birds, into pigs and prisoners.

 

_To Earth, Sea and Life._

 

Her eyes don't waver, but she doesn't like it when she makes a mess and the blood clings to her clothes, still wrinkles her nose at the smell of rotting flesh.

 

Her hands clutch her kunai tighter.

 

_To Earth, Sea and Life._

 

She pulls it in a fight and slashes her opponent’s jugular. The medics can't save him, but his hoĺlow eyes will follow her his whole life. Sakura doesn't care about how she made him bleed out. He's mean and used to watch his fish die slowly, poking them with his knives until one of their organs ruptured.

 

Sensei smiles at her proudly and presents her a shiny new headband. It's the first thing she’s ever owned that doesn't have scratches all over.

 

Sakura thinks she would have liked a weapon better.

**Author's Note:**

> see my [tumblr](https://grr-it.tumblr.com/) for yelling, prompts, asks, etc.


End file.
